This week at Affiliate Summit west there was a Women of SEO site clinic. The site clinic was no different than the previous day’s SEO Site Review clinic with Greg Boser, Michael Gray, Michael Streko and Rae Hoffman except for the fact that it had 75% more estrogen (on the high end, anyway — the two Michaels were on the panel, after all ;P). Rae has expressed previous sentiments about the whole “Women of SEO” hoopla and balked at the idea of being asked to be on a female-only panel (via this post at WhoisAndrewWee.com):

“I personally would have been offended to be asked to be on that panel. I’m on a panel because I’m good at what I do and not because I wear a bra. I’m not knocking the skills of any of the ladies appearing on that panel…[but] find the whole idea of the panel a bit gimmicky and a bit of a put down, as if there needs to be a “all female panel” to get smart women on stage.”

I see her point — I mean, it’s not like organizers would go out of their way to have an all-black or an all-Asian panel unless the session specifically marketed their point of view as a selling point (e.g., “How Female-Friendly is Your Website?”). It is a bit gimmicky, and I can see how some females would be offended — it’s hard to be treated equally if you’re singled out for being different.

On the other hand, I understand that conferences need to get butts into seats and take various measures to pique interest, whether that’s by having a “Smackdown,” a “Black Hat vs. White Hat” panel, or an all-female lineup. Plus, it’s not like these women wouldn’t have otherwise spoken or presented if there were no “Women of SEO” panel — conferences usually assemble talented, savvy females instead of just plucking three or four people with the required anatomy (or lack thereof) out of the Expo Hall and shoving them towards the stage.

So is it offensive to have a female-only panel at a conference, or to specifically require X-number of female speakers at at event in order to create more of a balance, or is it not a big deal? I pinged Kristy Bolsinger, Christa Watson and Kate Morris, three of the participants of the Women of SEO site clinic panel (along with Carolyn Shelby and Jane Copland — poor Lyndsay Walker got denied entry into the US), for their input. Check out the brief video interview below:

Kristy, Christa and Kate — Girl Power at Affiliate Summit West from 10e20 on Vimeo.

Personally, I’ve seen an increase of females in Internet marketing in the past four years of my career, and I think it’s great that the industry’s becoming more diverse. I don’t really mind the “female” angle at conferences so long as they’re featuring the best possible people (instead of females for “females’ sake”), whether it’s for a women-only panel or if there’s a mix of men and women speakers. What do you think about the treatment of females in the Internet marketing industry (or other male-dominated industries)? Are we on equal footing, or are we given special treatment?

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